OIL & GAS: Colorado homebuilders and the oil and gas industry are urging communities on the growing Front Range not to implement “reverse setback” rules restricting how close homes can be built to existing oil and gas wells. (Denver Post)

ALSO:
• California regulators order operators of 162 oil facilities possibly contaminated with “forever chemicals” to develop plans to address the problem by the end of August. (Capital & Main)
• The Biden administration says it will review the potential climate impacts of several Trump- and Obama-era oil and gas leases on public lands in the Western U.S. (E&E News, subscription)

STORAGE: A federal court denied a bid by the National Parks Conservation Association to intervene in the licensing process for a pumped hydro storage facility, which the group says would harm nearby Joshua Tree National Park. (National Law Review)

UTILITIES:
• A tree falling on a Pacific Gas & Electric power line may have sparked the Fly Fire in northern California, which later merged with the massive, still-burning Dixie Fire, also ignited by the utility’s equipment. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• A Colorado electricity co-op considers only partially buying out its contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission after receiving an exorbitant exit fee estimate. (Durango Herald)
• Santa Barbara, California, plans to launch a city-wide community choice energy program in October, giving residents the option to obtain 100% carbon free electricity. (KCBX)

GRID:
• Maui, Hawaii, is set to generate 100% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2024, with the help of grid modeling from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (PV Magazine)  
• California’s emergency provisions to reduce power demand and increase generation may have come too late to avoid catastrophic power outages over the next few weeks. (Canary Media)

CLIMATE:
• A record-breaking, drought-fueled wildfire on Hawaii’s Big Island forces thousands to evacuate. (KCRA)
• As its drinking water reservoirs dwindle, Marin County, California, considers energy-intensive desalination of San Francisco Bay water. (KQED)
• Oregon adopts emergency rules to protect workers from wildfire smoke and provide relief to people facing extreme heat in labor housing, while Portland marks one of its longest stretches without rain on record. (Oregonian)
• Portland municipal sustainability staffers say the city is far behind schedule on meeting goals to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030. (OPB) 

SOLAR:
• A California-based solar panel manufacturer asks the Biden administration to extend Trump-era tariffs on imported solar equipment. (Reuters)
• A New York-based company announces it has secured financing for a 346 MW solar-plus-1,500 MW-hour battery storage project under construction in Kern County, California. (news release)

COAL: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon extends a deal with Japan Coal Energy Center to collaboratively research carbon capture and storage at a test center in the state. (Oil City News)

COMMENTARY: A Colorado community organizer says the state needs to do more than transition to electric vehicles to combat climate change; it also must invest heavily in public transit. (Denver Streetsblog) 

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.